


[ART] A Year Without Dying

by DYlogger



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-21 19:08:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30026481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DYlogger/pseuds/DYlogger
Summary: One morning, I went to the laundry room and you were waiting for me there. You, my own, my other limb: the face I know best of all time’s many faces.After a mission gone wrong sidelines her at Nile’s family farm, Andy resigns herself to healing at the apparently glacial pace of a normal human being. Then Quỳnh shows up: gorgeous, immortal, inscrutable.A road trip isn’t going to solve all of their problems, but Andy’s willing to give it a try.
Relationships: Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	1. Finished Work

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [A year without dying](https://archiveofourown.org/works/30062331) by [praycambrian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/praycambrian/pseuds/praycambrian). 



> (Mild spoilers ahead.)

—

—

—

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: Artist's commentary! Optional but interesting, or so I like to think. Comes with a few more spoilers than this finished work section.
> 
> [art/fic masterpost on Tumblr](https://dylogger.tumblr.com/post/645817891433873408/) | [the fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/30062331)  
> [my Tumblr](https://dylogger.tumblr.com/) | [author's tumblr](https://praycambrian.tumblr.com/)


	2. Artist's Commentary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Artist's commentary comes with slightly more spoilers than just the art in the first section of this post.**

From the moment I saw the fic summary (and then the first snippets of fic once our big bang collaboration was confirmed), I could tell that this work was going to be full of warm and cozy vignettes set in wide idyllic spaces. As a non-American city dweller, folk Americana is one of my favourite art genres, and I really wanted to capture how being on an open, pastoral road can allow for character reflection and growth—

—Which brings us to this two-panel painting. This is the first piece I drew and the last section of the fic. This scene really stood out to me in the outline, which was already filled with so many picturesque-sounding scenes! In this scene, Quynh faces her water-related traumas by stepping into the ocean for the first time since her return. I can't remember which of us chose sunset as the time of day (I vaguely remember it being in PrayCambrian's outline but I also might have made it up in my head), but to me, it fit to have sun reflect in the water while Andy and Quynh reflect on themselves—and then have the sun move along in its cycle while Andy and Quynh move toward the future.

The rectangles were initially going to be text boxes with bits of dialogue, but I find them more visually interesting as design elements instead of text boxes, so design elements they shall stay. The wavy shape of the water panel against the sky... probably also means something? It was a decision I made based on ambiance and mood, so I guess what it really means can be up to the reader. :P

(Lots of decisions in this series were made like that.)

 **Update:** there were a number of scenes that didn't make it into the final cut of this fic, and this was one of them! Enjoy this art solo for what it is. :)

_In the ambient background, Lil Nas X starts playing—_

The style in this series was inspired [by](https://i.imgur.com/M4OSz0o.jpg) [landscape](https://i.imgur.com/TTzkYi0.png) [watercolours](https://i.imgur.com/SN1MneA.jpg), but I was also lowkey inspired by [silk](https://i.imgur.com/z4wxhL7.jpg) [paintings](https://i.imgur.com/wrwa9TO.png). The fic is soft and willowy, and I wanted the art style to be too. (I don't usually make art in this style, but I had a good time so I consider it a win.)

I don't have a whole lot to say about this piece in particular, but here are some tidbits:

  * ~~At some point, Quandy go to a big box store with a garden centre and look at flowers, and at some other point, they try on hats.~~ (Update: Garden centre did not make the final cut either!) The hats in this scene are my addition that made it into the fic, and this kind of collaboration is what I love about big bangs. From an art perspective, I thought the hats would indicate that yes, while they are on horses and a dirt road, this is still a modern setting where you can wear a bolero _or_ a soft sun hat. 
  * I probably should have done a few more horse studies, since 90% of my experience drawing horses comes from My Little Pony. 👀 I think if I had chosen a different art style, I would have. (Not to say studies aren't needed for this style of art; I was just lazy.)



This is a piece that I drew on the whim: I thought, _hm, I only really drew Quandy once,_ and decided to do a pair portrait in this style. c: (Simple silhouettes don't count.) Motifs are fun, but you can't frost a cake without cake -- and I don't want to illustrate a character-centric fic without characters!

I [looked](https://i.imgur.com/Z5WVknX.jpg) [for](https://i.imgur.com/O4xs5Xi.jpg) [different](https://i.imgur.com/WXWauCi.jpg) [portrait](https://i.imgur.com/iv4n9zt.png) [inspirations](https://i.imgur.com/KTJ0BWq.png), because I didn't think the landscape techniques I used for the other pieces would look as soft and flowy in a portrait style. I ended up using unfinished lines and flat colours (down-to-earth as per usual) with only a hint of dimension in the wash.

The cover was the last piece that I drew, and it borrows elements from all over the fic and the art. It has the heated American desert expanse from the scene with the horses, it nods to the beach at the end of the fic, the footprints from their travels, and the silhouettes of the two women from the last piece of art. Andy's silhouette is wearing her bolero hat. I really hope this cover scene captures the open-road setting and the character-centric themes of the fic.

I thought about maybe putting Andy and Quynh's faces on the cover, which is an issue that big budget movies run into all the time: including the characters limits what you can do if you have an alternative idea, but it also drives more traffic. And then I said, fuck it, this is fandom. _All the graphic covers I want._ This cover fits the fic better and was more interesting for me to develop!

I did this work again, I would revisit the typography. I think this cover would look pretty neat with a tall display serif face (American traditional tattoo faces/similar), or something reminiscent of East/Southeast Asian seals. But developing typography is really time-consuming, so I chose to go with handwritten text throughout this entire series. This mimics comic-style lettering, which work for the small text sections and the panel borders in the non-cover pieces.

Finally, this image! Quynh getting a phone is, IMO, a Thing in the fic (not a big event, but a relevant thematic item). I thought using the phone as a divider could represent Quynh's experience in the modern era. But then, PrayCambrian added a scene where Quandy talk about this gifted pendant from a long time ago, and I thought that adding the pendant as a phone charm could speak to how they carry the past into the present. When I asked about pendant design, PrayCambrian sent me the [lingling-o](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingling-o), a design found in Southeast Asian history, and I love this writing choice a lot.

Most smartphone cases don't come with charm holes anymore; instead, I see smartphone charms sold as a connection to the headphone jack. But _I_ own a smartphone case with a charm hole at the side so I'm sure Quandy can find one too. 

This image used to be a divider, but it became a standalone picture later on. This is why it's transparent, and I tried to make it contrast well on dark themes and light themes. I don't think there are too many people reading on 50% grey themes (because they don't provide the best contrast), so I hope it's visible enough to everyone!

—

I'm super happy to have had the opportunity to work on this bang. I've described this fic to my friends as "full of vibes," and this collaboration ended up being a very rewarding project to complete. :D And if fics that are full of vibes are _your_ vibe, then I recommend checking out PrayCambrian's fic!

—

Bonus: these two images without borders, free to use for desktop background purposes/personal use. ([Full-size](https://i.imgur.com/I41gw3C.png) | [2](https://i.imgur.com/CTgCH06.jpg))

—

~~Man, imagine Noriko as[Rawhide Kobayashi](https://i.imgur.com/ZUcMkPe.png).~~

**Author's Note:**

> [art/fic masterpost on Tumblr](https://dylogger.tumblr.com/post/645817891433873408/) | [the fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/30062331)  
> [my Tumblr](https://dylogger.tumblr.com/) | [author's tumblr](https://praycambrian.tumblr.com/)


End file.
